It's not often a sophomore wins
Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year honors. It's also not often
that a sophomore scores 69 points against the schedule that Erin
McMunn and Princeton faced in 2013. (Kevin Tucker)

Vitals

Top Returner

A Erin McMunn (Jr.) The Ivy League's Attacker of the Year after a 69 point
sophomore season, McMunn returns with all eyes on her in 2014. She
set the Princeton assists record (30) as a freshman but was more of
a goal scorer (40) as a sophomore, making life difficult for
defenses trying to pigeonhole her into a role.

X-Factor

D Colleen Smith (Sr.)
A leader at the back line for Princeton, Smith brings both
defensive intensity (14CT, 21 GB) and assists with the work at the
circle, controlling 24 draws in her first year as a starter. Has
taken on the vocal leadership role for the Tigers as a captain for
2014.

NCAA Tournament Trend

Telling Number

5
Of seven losses a year ago, five of them came by two goals or
fewer for Princeton, including back-to-back double-OT losses in the
Ivy league Tournament (11-10 against Dartmouth) and NCAA tournament
(10-9 to Duke). If the Tigers can reverse a few of those close
ones, things will be much different in 2014.

"Our goal is to be a little better as a team, because when a
game's tight and on the line, [that helps]," Sailer said. "Instead
of having those close losses, things may go the other way."

Enemy Lines

What Rival Coaches Say "The Tigers need to reload, but have a talented freshman
class, so that shouldn't be a problem. If they can find their
identity early, they will compete for the Ivy League title... It's
an Ivy League program with consistent success, but will the Ivy
League remain a top conference against top 20 programs?... With
Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell and Princeton, the Ivy battle will
continue and as always will come down to the conference
tournament... I don't think they lost a lot. Erin McMunn is their
quarterback and she's composed and runs that attack. If you can
limit her opportunities to goal and limit her touches, then you can
be successful. She's the key for them."

2013 Recap

"We're motivated to get Princeton back in the limelight. We
expect a lot of ourselves, and we're not satisfied with 1 and out
in the NCAAs."

-Princeton head coach Chris Sailer

In a Nutshell: A solid campaign was derailed by
some close losses – perfection in the Ivy League's regular
season was narrowly missed with a 10-9 overtime loss to Penn and
the tournament title slipped with a 11-10 OT loss to Dartmouth in
the league semis before Duke ended the Tigers season with another
OT loss in the NCAA tournament. Princeton had wins over solid Johns
Hopkins, Cornell and Penn State teams in the regular season, but
failed to advance beyond the NCAA tournament's first round for the
second straight season.

High Point: Beating then-No. 6 Penn State 14-9
to close the regular season. The Tigers completed a perfect home
slate behind a 13-save performance from goalie Caroline Franke and
six points each from senior Sam Ellis and sophomore Erin McMunn. It
was the Tigers' only win against a Top 10 team on the year.

Low Point: Losing to Dartmouth 11-10 in the
first round of the Ivy tournament. Just 13 days after beating the
Green Wave in the regular season in New Hampshire, the Tigers
failed to repeat on neutral ground in Philadelphia. Princeton led
by a goal at the half, and held leads after goals by Erin Slifer
and Sarah Lloyd late in the second half, but couldn't hang on,
falling in the second overtime.

2014 Preview

Best Case: One of the winningest coaches in
NCAA women's history, Sailor made no bones about the team's hopes
for this spring. "We're motivated to get Princeton back in the
limelight," she said. "We expect a lot of ourselves, and we're not
satisfied with 1 and out in the NCAAs."

The schedule is stocked as usual with quality non-conference
battles, beginning right from the jump with No. 10 Loyola on the
road in Princeton's opener. No. 9 Georgetown is a week later, and
No. 7 Virginia a week after that. All would be 'upsets' by the
preseason rankings, but with players like reigning Ivy League
Offensive Player of the Year McMunn, midfielder Sarah Lloyd (19G,
14A, 52DC) and second-team All-Ivy defender Liz Bannatine and
goalie Caroline Franke, the Tigers could find themselves in the Top
10 if they play above their ranking before hitting the teeth of
their Ivy schedule.

Worst Case: With no teams in the preseason Top
10 and only Penn (No. 13) besides the Tigers in the Top 20, it
doesn't look like the Ivy League is going to be a boon in terms of
strength of schedule this spring. That quality non-conference slate
won't be of much help if Princeton can't win more than its
share.

Lacrosse Magazine will continue its 2014 college
lacrosse preview throughout January and into February, with
team-by-team breakdowns of the top teams in NCAA Division I, II and
III men's and women's lacrosse. Follow the countdown at
LaxMagazine.com/LMRanks and on twitter at #LMRanks.